Eyebrook Reservoir; Fishery report for week to 22nd September 2019
Telephone Number: 01536 770264
Another week with mainly nice fishing conditions with warm overcast days although Saturday was a hot day with moderate to light easterlies and on Sunday, we had periods of torrential rain although with minimal winds. With the water maintaining a temperature of about 15 degrees all week, the fish are responding positively which is what we would expect as we enter the start of our back-end fishing.
Once again anglers fishing from the boats or float tubes have had much better results than the bank anglers. The main basin is producing the most consistent results for the boats, but we are seeing fish caught in the margins along the Leicestershire bank from the Hawthorns down to the Bell and on the dam. The water clarity is reasonably good at about 5-6 foot although we still have some algae about seven foot down.
Another stocking of nearly 730 fish took place this week, bringing our current stocking to nearly 19,000 rainbows, and with further stockings planned, we are on course to stock 20,000 trout for the season. With a good stock level and cooling water temperatures, we are beginning to see some excellent sport which should continue and even improve over the next few weeks. Favoured tactics during the back end of the season will be daddies, hoppers & sedges or fry patterns for those trout targeting the large shoals of fry.
We would kindly ask all anglers to ensure they complete their catch return after completing their session as this not only helps inform us of the stock levels but enables the staff to know who is still on site.
Last Monday saw some good catches recorded, with Tom Wallace’s party taking over 70 fish for a rod average of over 6. Successful flies included Blobs, Snakes, Daddies, and Cormorants. Also, on Monday, season ticket holder Ian Jobe was afloat in his float tube and in a 7 hour session had 16 fish. Mr Robinson had seven fish on buzzers in his afternoon session whilst Mr Munro and Mr Woods used small black dries to account for over 20 fish.
On Tuesday our daily rod average was over 4 with all water member Phil Mee taking five fish on crunchers, whilst regular visitor, Ken Waters, went afloat in one of our two wheelyboat’s and landed eight fish. Nick Dunn had a day off from guiding and fishing with his son, landed over 20 on a mixture of Fabs and Blobs on a DI5. The rod average improved on Wednesday with 28 anglers catching nearly 140 fish. Ian Jobe returned but decided to make life a bit easier and fish from a boat with his with regular boat partner, Clive Moore. Together they accounted for 19 fish whilst Draycote ranger Andy Miller visited the Eyebrook on a day off and used foam backed daddies to take a double figure catch. Mr Woods and Mr Munro, visiting the midlands from their native Ayrshire returned for the second day of their 2-day leisure break and again using small black dries landed a further 20 fish to over 3 pounds.
On Thursday, 11 members of the Paisley Patterns Fly Fishers arrived at the Eyebrook for a three-day break. Over the three days they only recorded one blank session which was on the Saturday when we experienced a hot, bright, flat calm day. Overall, they netted 187 fish over the three days for a daily individual rod average of just under six fish. Also, on Thursday, Dave Shaer fished daddies off the dam and landed eleven, whilst Paul Havard used small black buzzers for his six fish. Friday saw the whole fleet booked as the Syngenta group as well as the Paisley patterns group were on the water whilst Mr Robinson’s group moved from Draycote and fished their second day at the Eyebrook as part of their joint group package. The fishing was a bit more difficult than the previous two days although Neil Pratt and Gareth Debenham took twenty fish between them. Mr Armitage used a combination of Diawl Bach’s and Crunchers for his five fish. On both days the anglers were finding plenty of fish in the top couple of feet with the main basin and the netted bank being the most productive areas.
The weekend saw varied conditions, Saturday being hot, bright and calm whilst Sunday was cloudy, wet and calm. Mr Petri and Mr McConagle took over 20 fish on daddies. Daniel and Christian Smith also used daddies to good effect and had thirteen to their boat whilst Mr Turner and his partner had nine. Bob Thompson used sunken daddies for his fish whilst Dave Chadwick moved onto the Dam Wall and used floating line tactics for his three fish.
Sunday also saw the fishery host the annual Blue Trout Trophy which started with a bacon roll for the 18 competitors taking part. Who landed a total of 68 fish for a rod average of 3.8 with a variety of methods working. Methods such as a washing line with Diawl Bach’s and cruncher on a midge tip or floating line. While some opted to fish nymph pulling also worked on a Di 3 sinking line with white humongous and blobs. The best areas in the match were either through the main basin or down near Robbo’s Cabin and the Willows.
With Daddies featuring so heavily on the catch returns, our Guiding & Tuition Manager Tom Bird Has put together a Daddy Selection with 6 flies of our guides top 3 patterns. These are available from our online shop www.flyfishstore.co.uk Methods to fish these patterns are discussed in detail in an article penned by Tom Bird which can be found on our tuition website www.flyfishtuition.co.uk/latest-report/
Pike Fishing
With the clarity now nearly back to normal with just a slight hint of colour there has been several Jacks getting caught along with reports of bigger fish following. With the Eyebrook season closing on the 31st October these next few weeks could give us the right conditions to see another Eyebrook 30lb+ pike. Fly fishing only for the pike with pike boats restricted to 5 a day.
Date for your diary:
Fur & Feather 27th October fished to a 12 fish limit to the boat fishing in pairs, fished to fisheries rules no rudders. Prizes Winning Pair Christmas Hamper Each, 2nd 4 bottles Christmas Wine, 3rd Prize Box Chocolates each, Biggest Fish Bottle Port, Cost 6 Fish Comp Permit £26.00 Comp Boat £15.00 Bacon Roll on arrival with soup & roll at the weighing, collection will be made for the English Disabled Fly Fishers Association call the lodge to book your boat on 01536 770264.
Weekly Stats:
Number Rods: 277 Number Trout Taken: 241
Number Trout Released: 817 Total Catch: 1,058 Rod Average: 3.8
Current Fishing Times:
Bank: 07:30 until 19:00
Boat All Day: 08:30 until 19:00
Boat Part Day: AM 08:30 until 14:00 PM 14:00 until 19:00
Last 4 Hours from: 15:00 until 19:00(Ticket sales available from 14:45)
All Anglers to be off site by: 19:15pm
Tight lines
The Eyebrook Fishery team
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